


An Extreme Kind of Love

by Lord_Byron_Mudkippington



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Eventual UmiRin, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-07 11:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8799427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington/pseuds/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington
Summary: Honoka's a little extreme, Eli said. Yeah, a little. Maki isn't sure she should ever trust Eli's judgement again, but then again, Honoka is really pretty... (Originally posted 8/23/16 by me on FFN) (This is a multi-chaptered fic, so more chapters will be arriving!)





	1. Love Hurts

They had first met in a sweets shop. That's kind of sweet, isn't it? Apparently Eli hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, so she directed her friends towards a nearby shop that was owned by the family of a childhood friend. The three of them entered the shop, greeting the young woman behind the counter.

Both Eli and Umi made their way to the counter to order something, but Maki did not join them. Instead she stood at the entrance, eyes wide as she was floored by that young woman behind the counter. She had never seen anyone so... so gorgeous. There was something about that smile that just lit up the room. Even if all the lights were off, it would probably still shine through the dark.

"Maki?" It wasn't just her smile, though. Really the whole package was unbelievably beautiful. How could such perfection be hidden away in this little shop? "Uh, Maki?" Was this what having a crush felt like? Oh Gods, it made her heart feel like it was going to beat right out of her chest. She wasn't prepared for this. "Heavens above... Maki!"

"Huh?" Maki shook herself out of her stupor, finding everyone staring at her. How long had Eli been trying to talk to her? This was so embarrassing. Now all the attention was on her. Although it did give her a chance to lock gazes with a pair of pretty blue eyes. No offense to Eli, but these were truly oceans you could drown in.

"Do you want anything?"

"Her." She pointed directly at the woman behind the counter, watching in a sort of daze as all three of their jaws dropped. Wait, what the hell had she just said? As she slowly began to realize what exactly she had done, her face began to rapidly grow red, quickly covering every inch of skin on her face. Thoroughly embarrassed, she turned right around and bolted from the shop.

The three remaining women watched as Maki disappeared from view, before Eli and Umi realized that they couldn't leave without her. "W-Wait! Maki!" Umi called out uselessly, running out the door after her. That left two.

"Ahaha, that was... Sorry about that." Eli laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. The woman behind the counter was blushing as well, though she wasn't nearly the tomato that Maki had been.

"Ehehe, it's alright, really." She was laughing too, resting an arm against the counter. "That was pretty smooth for a second there."

"Maki's as smooth as sandpaper," Eli muttered dryly, now having to be the one to grab both hers and Umi's orders. "But hey, maybe with a second chance she'll actually be able to talk to you. Interested, Honoka?"

"Are you trying to set me up, Eli-chan?" Eli merely shrugged, causing Honoka to laugh harder. "Hahaha, well... I'll give her another shot! Set it up, Eli-chan."

* * *

School was back in session. At the university dorms, Maki was deep in slumber, not having any class that day. After living her first year of university sharing a dorm with a small, angry kid who apparently had 'no time for hobbies', she craved something a bit more stable. She would find that in Eli and Umi.

She had met Eli in the music room. Having gone there for some alone time with the piano, she was surprised to find someone else already there, strumming away on an acoustic guitar. They met again several more times, and eventually became acquaintances.

Towards the end of that year, Maki was complaining one day about the fact that her roommate was completely crazy. Eli suggested that she come room with her and her other roommate, and considering that she seemed a lot more stable, Maki eagerly accepted. The arraignments had worked out so far.

As she slept, the sound of Eli's voice broke through her empty dreams. "Are you gonna wake up before dinner by any chance?"

"No," Maki muttered in annoyance, curling up deeper beneath the covers. Couldn't she sleep as long as she wanted? It was her day off, after all.

"Wow, I can't believe I actually woke up before someone else." Wait, that was a new voice. Pulling herself out from under the covers, Maki tried to wipe the sleep out of her eyes and focus on the two people now standing in her room. One was clearly Eli, and the other was... the woman from the sweets shop?!

"Aaa! Eli, what the hell?!" Maki yelped as she dived back under the covers, burning with embarrassment. "You can't just bring people into my room unannounced!"

"Why? Are you naked?"

"Wh-What?! No!" Gods, this was even more embarrassing. Why was Eli doing this to her? Slowly she peeked out from the covers, looking at the two of them standing side by side. Her crush looked amazing. It wasn't even fair: she probably looked like a train wreck.

Eli chuckled quietly, as if Maki's turmoil was amusing to her. "Alright, Honoka and I are gonna wait in the living room for you to get dressed. Don't take too long."

"I-I said I'm not naked!"

"Do you want to come out in your pajamas then?" ... Okay, no. Maki grumbled and refused to answer, which was enough for Eli, who merely smirked and took Honoka out of the room, closing the door behind her. The covers slid off of her as Maki hid her face in her hands, burning bright red. How utterly mortifying.

Throwing off the covers completely, she jumped off the bed and started rifling through her drawers. She didn't want to make them wait too long, but she also couldn't walk out there in just anything, especially not in front of Honoka. So that was her name: Honoka. What a lovely name. Had a name ever been lovelier? Could names even _be_ lovely? ... These were the kind of thoughts she should never voice aloud.

After over a minute of searching, all she could decide on was a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. It would have to do. With a sigh, she shed her pajamas and pulled on her new clothes before hurrying out of the room. Normally she was so calm in almost any situation. Why was she falling apart so easily just because it involved someone she'd only met twice now?

When she reached the living room, Eli and Honoka were sitting on the couch watching TV. Not sure how to reveal her presence, she ended up standing there silently for nearly two minutes before she was noticed. "Oh, Maki," Eli started, just realizing she was there. "You can speak to us, you know."

"What do you want, Eli?" Her tone was rude, but she wasn't happy to be dealing with all of this today. If Eli was going to bring Maki's crush to the dorm, at the very least she could've given her a couple days to prepare. Maybe she needed a week...

"I'm literally just sitting here." Eli laughed and stood up, with Honoka following suit. "It just so happens that I was going to get lunch with an old friend today..." She pointed at Honoka to leave no debate as to who the old friend was. "... and I just wanted to see if perhaps you'd like to go with us."

"Uh, yeah, sure..." Maki was trying to weigh the options in her mind, but her mouth had already agreed to go. At least Eli would be there to add some normal conversation into what would surely be an awkward lunch if it was just her and Honoka. She wasn't sure that she had the ability to talk in complete sentences to her crush yet.

"Great! Let's go then." The three of them headed to the door, with Honoka opening it up and walking out first. Before Maki could follow her, Eli placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned forward, whispering her ear. "Just so you know, Honoka can be a bit... extreme. But, I'm sure you can handle it."

"What do you meEEAAN?!" Maki let out an undignified scream when Eli suddenly shoved her forward. Her direction led her out the door and straight into Honoka, the ensuing collision causing both of them to fall over with dual shouts. Eli smiled as she stood in the entrance.

"Have a good time, you two!" The door slammed shut, leaving Maki and Honoka on the ground in a tangle of limbs. Letting out a groan, Maki realized where exactly she was: right on top of her crush. Yelping, she jumped off of Honoka, falling on her back with another groan. This was an even worse impression than the first time they'd met.

"Are you okay, Maki-chan?" Honoka stood up and brushed herself off, holding out a hand for Maki, which she took without thinking. The warmth that she suddenly felt almost caused her to let go and crash back to the ground, but thankfully she was able to tighten her grip instead. Standing up shakily, she automatically made eye contact, but those oceans of loveliness were way too much.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Like a true, self-respecting young adult, she stared at her feet as she said that. She turned around and tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Dammit, Eli..." Of course this would happen when she hadn't thought to bring her key.

"Haha, wow. What's her deal, huh?" Honoka laughed a bit awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. "But hey, her loss, right? More food for us!" Maki was pretty sure that wasn't how it worked, but she decided against saying anything. "Hey, I know where we can go to eat! Let's go to the park!"

"The... park?" Why would there be food at a park? Were they going to steal it from someone's picnic? Chancing a glance at Honoka's eager, innocent smile, she decided that, if Honoka asked her to steal food from strangers, she would do it without hesitation. "Okay, H-Honoka. Let's go to the park."

* * *

This was not what she had expected. When Honoka had said 'park', she assumed that there were no words missing. As it turned out, she was wrong: there was one key word missing, and that word was 'skate'.

Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of half-pipes and water-less pools. A few people were already there, riding around on skateboards. Even from a distance, Maki could tell that at least a couple of them fit the skater stereotype of having ink on their skin and some interesting piercings. She wondered if Honoka had any tattoos.

One of the skaters noticed they were standing there and started to ride over. It was a girl with short orange hair: the same color as Honoka's. She gave the two of them a goofy grin as she stomped on the end of her skateboard, sending it into the air and catching it with a hand. Maki mentally noted how unsafe it was to skate without a helmet.

"Honoka-chan!" She gave Honoka a mock salute, allowing Maki to see the tiger that had been tattooed on her arm in all its glory. "I didn't think I'd see you here today." It was then that she noticed Maki. "Who's the new kid?" She immediately bristled at being called a kid. There was no way this girl was older than her. How dare she!

"This is Maki-chan!" If Honoka expected Maki to be polite towards someone who had so rudely referred to her as a kid, then she had another thing coming. Instead of giving any kind of greeting, she crossed her arms and half-stared, half-glared at the other ginger. She seemed a bit off-put, but it didn't deter her for long.

"Well heya, Maki-chan! So, you skateboard, then?" What? Maki was about to say no, but then she looked at Honoka. No doubt her crush would enjoy skateboarding. This must've been what Eli meant by 'a bit extreme'. If this was the kind of thing that she was into, then they'd more than likely have nothing in common. She couldn't allow that: she really, really wanted Honoka to like her.

"I... dabbled with it as a youth." Well, it wasn't a total lie. When she was ten, she actually did try to skate. She could barely ride the board without falling over though, and after she cracked the back of her head open trying to ollie, she had stayed far away from all boards on wheels.

"Really? That's awesome!" The sunny expression on Honoka's face made any hesitance she had about the lie melt away. "You should ride with us!" There was that hesitance again.

"Uh... Y-Yeah, sure." Maybe Honoka meant they should ride some other time. At the very least, it'd give her a chance to practice. She could even buy a skateboard and glue her shoes to it so she wouldn't fall off. Those hopes were dashed, however, when Honoka and the other girl began to walk deeper into the skate park.

"Come on, Maki-chan!" Honoka called, smiling brightly. "We can borrow a couple boards!" Oh boy. Gulping, she reluctantly followed after them, wondering if dying was worth trying to impress her crush. ... Yes. Yes it was.

* * *

Sometimes, one can almost watch themselves make a mistake in the third person. They would leave their body and watch, like a ghost, as they did something that they never should have done. Maki felt this way. It was like she was watching herself standing at the top of a half-pipe that was way too tall, standing on a skateboard that was way too 'not the ground'. So this was how she was going to die.

Looking down made her stomach do enough flips to be a skating pro on its own. It couldn't be that high up, but apparently it was high enough to instantly cause her acrophobia to seize her heart. Her legs were shaking, a fact that she tried to hide due to Honoka standing right next to her.

It was now her time to shine. Or, more likely, her time to make a complete fool of herself. She tried to ignore the sickening feeling within her stomach, thinking of anything else but the fact that she was doing something so stupid and so high up - without a helmet! - just to impress someone she barely even knew. Oh, but what a person...

Slowly she leaned forward, her feet planted firmly on the board. Leaning far enough shifted her weight, and the board hung on the top of the ramp for a second before the stomach-churning fall. She tried her best not to scream as she went down, but she might've ended up screaming anyway.

At the very least, she stayed on the board until she reached the bottom of the half-pipe. As soon as she reached the bottom, however, she lost her balance and went flying, landing on the ground with a hard thud. All the breath was knocked out of her, and were there supposed to be stars in the daytime? Adding insult to injury, her board went a bit of a ways up the other ramp, then came back down and smacked her in the head.

"Maki-chan! Maki-chan, are you okay?!" Honoka's voice sounded far away, but her worried expression was swimming in Maki's view. She tried to stand up, but her strength had not yet returned.

"Yup." She forced the word out, wondering if it would be okay to just lay here for the rest of her life. Probably not. Honoka leaned over and grabbed Maki's arms, helping her back onto her feet. Everything was still moving, though she knew that shouldn't be the case.

"Are you sure? You're bleeding." Honoka looked on with great concern as Maki reached around to touch the back of her head. When she brought her hand back into view, there was a familiar red liquid on her fingers. Apparently nothing had really changed since she'd last been on a board.

"I-I'm fine, Honoka." She tried to smile, but she had a feeling it was more akin to a grimace. "I'm just... rusty. Haven't been on a board in awhile, you know? Practice makes... makes perfect." Oh Gods, what was she saying? She realized that the other girl was also there too, standing there with a curious expression on her face. Finally, she broke out into a huge grin.

"I like her, Honoka-chan." She playfully slapped Maki on the back, which nearly took her breath away all over again. "She's a fighter. Good on ya, Maki-chan. Oh, I'm Rin, by the way." Rin? Alright. Still somewhat woozy, Maki forgot that she was supposed to be mad at Rin, shaking her outstretched hand with little strength. "Let's get you back on that board and try again!"

"Try... again?" She looked back at the half-pipe, which seemed even taller than before. A lump formed in her throat as she looked over at Honoka. There was still concern in her eyes, but she was smiling again, and her knees felt weak for a new reason. "A... Alright. Let's go again." With her luck, she wouldn't even live to regret this.

* * *

When Maki finally stumbled home that evening, every part of her body hurt. She tried to open the door several times, having forgotten that she didn't have her key. Her body slumped against the door, the sound apparently acting as a knock, since the door opened up and she tumbled inside.

"Maki?!" Umi's shocked voice reached her ears, and she slowly pushed herself back onto her feet, wincing when she put weight on her left ankle. She was sure that she'd at least sprained it after one of her many bails. "Oh Gods, what happened to you?"

"Was at the skate park with Honoka." She didn't resist when Umi wrapped an arm around her and helped her to the couch, where she gratefully crumpled onto it. "Everything's still spinning."

"Jeez, Maki, you're not the one who's supposed to get hurt. You're the doctor in training here." Frowning, Umi ran to the bathroom to grab whatever she could that seemed medically useful, and when she came back, Eli had appeared.

"Wow Maki, you look like a wreck," she remarked, smirking. "Must've been a fun time, then."

"Eli, did you have something to do with this?" Umi's frown deepened, shooting Eli a disapproving look before she attempted to take care of Maki. "What in the world happened anyway?"

"I just allowed Maki and Honoka to get to know each other better over lunch."

" _This_ happened over lunch?!"

"Oh right, we didn't eat..." Maki chimed in, suddenly remembering why they were supposed to go to the park in the first place. Food had been the last thing on her mind, admittedly. Now, however, her stomach grumbled as a reminder that she'd eaten nothing all day.

"I can't believe this..." Umi shook her head and stood up, heading for the kitchen. "I'm going to make dinner for all of us. Don't move, okay Maki?" That wouldn't be hard, since Maki was sure she had no energy left to go anywhere.

"So how did it go?" Eli sat down on the edge of the couch, looking at Maki with interest. "What did you think of Honoka?"

"Honoka? She's... She's really great." Maki smiled despite the pain, closing her eyes. Even though she wasn't sure if she'd be able to move off the couch for awhile after that ordeal, it had strangely been worth it. That was all because of Honoka. She was such a wonderful person: Maki had never felt so strongly for someone in her entire life. "I can't wait to go again."

This declaration was greeted with mixed reactions. Eli was happy that the two of them had hit it off so well, while Umi didn't want Maki to come home in a body bag next time. They ended up arguing over what was the best way for Maki to proceed with this, but it didn't matter to her. All that mattered was Honoka wanted to see her again. She would weather all manners of pain to see that smile again.


	2. Extremely Stupid

  
"You can't be serious." It was a futile response though. Umi knew that Maki was being serious, because she couldn't remember ever hearing her tell a joke. Now would be a good time to start, though.

"Of course I'm being serious!" Maki crossed her arms and pouted slightly, trying not to break eye contact with Umi. If she lost her waning confidence now, she'd be shot down without a fight. "Come on, you said you needed to get out of the apartment."

"What? I never said that!" Now Maki was just putting words in her mouth. In all the time that she'd known Maki, she'd never heard one crazy idea come out of her mouth. Things had clearly changed since she met Honoka, though. "Maki, I don't know what makes you think I can snowboard, but I'll say this just so you know: I can't snowboard."

This was not what Umi had expected when Maki pulled her aside. In her naive mind, she had assumed it would be about school. Oh how wrong she was. Apparently Maki had been invited to go snowboarding with Honoka, and somehow that meant she had to be dragged along too.

"It's a doubles thing, Umi. Honoka's bringing one of her friends, and I gotta bring one of my friends too." Well, at least Maki considered them friends. That didn't really make Umi want to go make a complete fool of herself at something she'd never done before. Maki would just have to understand that.

"Maki, I want to help you, but... I don't. Not really. Oh, don't give me that look. I don't want to go out and freeze my butt off just to make a complete fool of myself on some snowy mountain. You know I've never gone snowboarding, and I know that you haven't either. Is trying to impress your crush really worth this?"

The comment made Maki blush, but she wasn't deterred just yet. "Yes, it is worth it! I... I want to ask Honoka to be my g... g-girlfriend, and I want to show her that I can be extreme enough to be worthy of her! Please come with us!" Umi frowned, then sighed, then frowned a bit deeper. Maki really was determined, wasn't she? Well... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Besides, if she made a fool of herself, at least Maki would be making a fool of herself too. Her amateur hour wouldn't be as pronounced.

"... Alright, I'll go. Where is it anyway?"

"Hokkaido."

"Hokkaido?! That's seventeen hours away!"

"I know, I know. Honoka said we'd all take turns driving though, so nobody's going to fall asleep behind the wheel."

"You didn't say anything about a road trip." Umi crossed her arms and turned her back on Maki. "I'm declining again."

"Umiiiiiii!"

* * *

Maki sat in the passenger seat, clutching onto her jacket nervously. It wasn't that she was terrified of the high speeds that Honoka was driving at. A quick look in the back showed that it was Umi who was worried about it, if it wasn't obvious by the way her foot was pounding on an imaginary brake. No, what made her nervous was that she was sitting next to Honoka.

This was really happening. She was going on a snowboarding adventure with her crush, the same crush that she was planning on asking to be her girlfriend. It was a huge step that she wasn't sure she was ready for. It would take a lot of mental and emotional preparation to bring herself to do it.

The sound of rock music blasting through the speakers made it hard to concentrate, and trying to think about what she was planning to do made her feel physically ill. She was a total disaster when it came to romance. Why couldn't they teach _that_ at school?

All of the gear they were going to use was in the trunk. Everything except for the snowboards, that is. Since Honoka and Rin didn't have any extras, they were just going to rent two at the lodge. They had needed to buy better jackets though, since it was going to be a lot colder than they were used to. Since it was kind of Maki's fault Umi was being dragged into this mess, she bought jackets for the both of them.

Yes, it was her fault, but there was a reason for it. Glancing into the backseat, she looked at the happy smile on Rin's face as she reenacted a drum solo in the air. She was a happy-go-lucky, athletic girl. There was no fear in her eyes when she had to tackle a tough challenge, unlike Maki, who felt uncomfortable being more than a few feet in the air.

What was worse was that Rin was definitely attractive. She had an athletic body and clearly took care of herself. Maki severely doubted that Rin was so lazy and incompetent in the kitchen that most of her meals consisted of take-out. She was the perfect kind of girl for someone like Honoka, and that was what gave Maki nightmares. What if she ended up being too late and missed her chance?

That was why she had to ask Honoka to be her girlfriend now, and that was why Umi was there. Hopefully her presence would distract Rin on the trip. It was petty, and probably silly too, but the fact was that Maki's heart pounded uncomfortably at the thought that Rin would come and effortlessly steal her crush. She was jealous of Rin.

* * *

"Hey, Umi-chan? Have you ever played SSX?"

"I... don't know what that is." Umi didn't know a lot of things Rin talked about. It was all a garbled mess of sports that she didn't play or follow. They needed something to talk about on the last stretch of the drive, though. Honoka had fallen asleep less than an hour ago, though it was for the second time. Maki, meanwhile, had been asleep for the past few hours. She had pretty much been knocked out the moment she was done driving.

Umi was glad that Maki was sleeping, though. It was better than looking like a nervous mess the whole time. Whenever she looked at Maki, she seemed anxious, which worried Umi. Asking out someone couldn't possibly be worth all that stress. What did she know, though?

"I feel like you've never snowboarded before." Maybe it wasn't fair for Umi to think so, but she'd been getting a 'dumb jock' kinda vibe from Rin. Maybe she was a bit more astute than that, though. She at least was spot on with that remark.

"Never in my life. I wasn't going to go, but Maki was very insistent."

"Don't worry, Honoka and I'll teach you two. It's easy!" Umi somehow doubted this greatly, but maybe they'd start things slow. Real slow. 'Staying in the lounge all weekend' slow. She had the feeling she wouldn't be that lucky, though.

* * *

They had two rooms at the lounge, and two to a room. Since it was late when they got there, they all agreed to sleep for the night and get up the next morning refreshed and ready to hit the slopes. For Maki and Umi, they might be hitting the slopes a bit harder than most.

It didn't really hit Maki until they were walking to the rooms, keys in hand, that she realized she would be rooming with someone else. Who was it going to be? Would they pair her with Umi, or was she going to stay with Honoka? Her heart started to race at the thought of being in the same room with Honoka: sleeping in the same bed as Honoka. She was pretty sure everyone could hear her heart trying to beat out of her chest.

"Alright, so how are we gonna split this up?" Honoka addressed the group, swinging the key around her finger. Before anyone could even think about it, Maki just had to speak before she thought about it, her words nearly shouted out into the hall.

"I'll room with you!" That caught everyone off guard. Honoka and Rin just stared at her, while Umi shook her head slightly. Maki felt her face growing warmer as she started to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger, trying to pretend that she didn't just sound like an overeager puppy. "I-If you need a roommate that is. I-I have nothing better to do."

The shocked expressions soon faded, and Honoka gave Maki a big smile. "Okay! We're roomies, then!" She grabbed Maki's hand and started leading the surprised redhead over to where their room was. "See you two tomorrow!"

Maki let out a final yelp as she nearly fell over when they stopped at the door. Honoka shoved the key in and opened it up, and then they disappeared into the room. Rin and Umi were left there in stunned silence, turning to look at each other.

"Looks like we're roommates, then." Rin didn't seem fazed by that, smiling at Umi.

"I suppose so." The two of them didn't really want to keep standing out in the hall when they were so tired, so they went over to their room.

"Do you think they're banging right now?"

"I don't want to think about that..."

* * *

Maki was laying in bed, but she felt wide awake. She was staring at the ceiling, gripping the covers tightly, trying desperately not to look over to her right. Though she had not been fully prepared to sleep in the same room, in the same _bed_ , with Honoka, she had definitely not been prepared for Honoka to sleep in her underwear.

How could Honoka be so cavalier about doing this? The mere thought embarrassed her to no end! The fact that it was actually happening? It might just kill her. Maybe this was a consequence of being what some might call a 'prude', and being roommates with two others who might be called 'prudes'. Her heart wasn't ready for this.

Something was making its existence known, though: something that wanted her to look over at Honoka. Her... curiosity. Yeah, that's what she'd call it. She didn't want to, but she really did want to. This wouldn't have happened if she hadn't opened her big mouth.

Against her will, her eyes slowly drifted to her right, to where Honoka was sleeping soundly. Try as she might, she couldn't overcome her desire to just look. Look reeeal hard. Her breath was nearly taken away when she finally was able to get a good look at Honoka. Of course she wouldn't have bothered to get under the covers. That would've made things too easy to avoid.

Was it getting hot in the room? It shouldn't be. After all, they were in rather wintery conditions, but she felt like any longer under the covers would make her sweat. At the very least, Honoka's butt was certainly hot enough to melt all the snow outside.

Maki pushed the covers off of herself and pointedly looked back up at the ceiling, her heart pounding in her chest and her faced burning bright. This was going to be a long night.


	3. Snowblind

When Honoka woke up the next morning, she noticed that she was the only one in bed. She figured that Maki had just gone to the restroom, but when she rolled over to the other side of the bed, she found Maki laying on the floor. "Maki-chan? Why are you on the floor?"

Maki stirred, Honoka's voice having woken her from a somewhat uncomfortable slumber. She looked up at Honoka, blinked a couple times, then remembered why she was on the floor in the first place. "Uh, I... drop... I dropped something." There was no way she could admit that she had to practically throw herself onto the floor to avoid constantly looking at Honoka in her underwear.

It was an awful excuse, one that she came up with without really thinking. However, it seemed that Honoka bought it, as she just smiled and nodded. "Okay! Well, now that we're up, we should get ready to hit the slopes!" She jumped out of bed and rushed to the restroom, giving Maki another nice view.

Was she the luckiest or unluckiest person in the entire lodge?

* * *

All four of them were standing at the top of a small slope. Both Maki and Umi were relieved that they were indeed going to start on a beginner's slope. Still, Maki was nervous. They hadn't even started yet and she had already made a fool of herself. Before they reached the edge of the slope, she had put on her snowboard, and then immediately fell over trying to move forward. Too bad the snow didn't let her sink through in embarrassment.

It wasn't a big slope obviously, but as far as Maki was concerned, they might as well have been jumping off of the lounge roof. Her breathing started to pick up, and she felt acutely aware of everything around her. She could tell that Honoka was looking at her, and she could hear Umi complaining about how cold it was.

"Let me show you two how it's done." Honoka grinned brightly as she stood on the edge of the slope. Tipping her snowboard downward, she started to descend down the slope, giving them a quick wave before her eyes darted forward. While Maki wasn't surprised that she was good, she also felt an underlying surprise that this was possible without falling right away.

There weren't any fancy tricks to be seen. Honoka merely was showing how to snowboard on a basic level. While watching, Maki tried to make as many mental notes as possible, all while memorizing them to the best of her abilities. From the looks of it, Umi was doing the same. They both were probably just trying not to wipe out immediately.

When she reached the bottom, Honoka moved to the side, but didn't come back up. Both Maki and Umi looked towards Rin for an explanation. "Hm? Oh, Honoka-chan? She's gonna stay down there for you two when you reach the bottom." She winked at them, gently prodding Maki forward. "Get a move on, Maki-chan!"

"Alright, alright!" Maki stared down the slope, gulping nervously. She looked down at Honoka, and she didn't know if that made her feel better or worse. Well, she couldn't stay up there forever, or Rin might just push her down without warning. ... Actually, Umi might do it first.

Okay, she could do this. It was just like skateboarding, but on snow, which was softer than wood. A fall wouldn't hurt as bad, which had to be some kind of comfort. Without letting herself think through her actions any longer, Maki tipped her board down and started to go down the slope.

At first, it seemed like things were going fine. She was a bit wobbly, but she stayed upright. At least until she reached the halfway point. It was there that her legs shook too much, and with wide eyes she found herself falling. Yelping, she waved her arms desperately in an attempt to stay upright, but it only served to make herself look stupid as she hit the snow.

The snow slowed her down considerably, and she found herself staring up at the sky, half-buried in snow. She hadn't even been able to fall to the end of the slope. It took some effort to push herself back up, and when she looked back up the slope, she was sure she could see Umi laughing at her misfortune. She didn't even want to look down and see if Honoka was laughing at her too.

Of course, she wasn't left with much choice. If she wanted to get down the slope, she'd have to look where Honoka was. Or... Or she could just do it with her eyes closed. ... No, that probably wasn't a good idea. She was just going to have to suck it up and look.

Well, Honoka wasn't laughing. That was good. Maybe she had just finished laughing, though. Sighing, Maki pushed herself back up onto her feet, nearly falling over again when she started to slide down the slope. Somehow she was able to keep upright until the end, but she managed to fall again upon reaching the bottom.

Honoka came over to help her up, and Maki blushed with a combination of embarrassment over failing so spectacularly in front of her crush on the easiest possible slope, and their close contact. "Are you okay, Maki-chan?"

"Yup, absolutely." She brushed snow off of her jacket and followed Honoka out of the way so that Umi and Rin could follow them down. Maki took some comfort in knowing that Umi was in the same boat as her, watching as her friend fell pretty quickly and rolled head over heels all the way down the slope. It took a supreme effort to keep her from falling over laughing.

When she and Honoka went to go help Umi up, she couldn't suppress a grin as she watched Umi try to brush the snow out of her hair. "You know, I at least made it halfway down the slope."

"I don't want to hear it from you," Umi muttered crossly, folding her arms. "I didn't ask for this." Maki just chuckled quietly as they all waited for Rin to come down the slope. Of course, like Honoka, she didn't make any mistakes. In fact, she showed off by jumping up, doing a 180, then going down the rest of the slope backwards.

"Well now that Rin-chan's done showing off..." Honoka clearly wasn't annoyed though, with the fact that she high-fived Rin right after she came over to them. "I wanna try my favorite slope before it gets too crowded! Who wants to come with me?"

In the back of Maki's mind, logic was speaking pretty clearly to her. Whatever Honoka's favorite slope was, it definitely wasn't as easy as this one, and she'd already failed spectacularly on this one. It would be in her best interest to stay here and try to conquer not falling off her snowboard first. Then she looked at Rin, and knew that someone as experienced as her would go with Honoka, and the thought of the two of them alone made Maki feel ill again.

"I'll go with you." The moment the words left her mouth, Maki knew she was making yet another mistake. She'd been making plenty of mistakes ever since she first laid eyes on Honoka, though. This was no longer an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence.

"Awesome!" Honoka clapped happily, slinging her snowboard over her shoulder. "Let's get going then!"

"Maki..." Umi made an attempt to stop her, but Maki gave her a 'I have to follow my heart' look. Responding in kind, Umi shot her a 'Your heart is stupid' look, whatever those very specific looks may look like. Regardless, Maki grabbed her snowboard and went over to Honoka, relieved that she could be near her crush while simultaneously keeping a presence between her and Rin.

"You two have fun then. I'm gonna keep helping Umi with her technique." Rin grinned and poked Umi's cheek. Maki had been so sure that Rin would go with Honoka, though. This... was just her brain being paranoid, and she'd fallen for it again. She was going to die on these slopes.

Resigned to her fate, she followed Honoka away from their friends and over towards the chairlift that would take them to their destination. When they reached it, they were the only two left, so they both got in and pulled the bar down over them. Then they were off, the lift pulling them higher and higher into the air.

Maki clutched tightly onto the bar as they rose higher. She shut her eyes to avoid accidentally glancing down at the ground, but knowing how high up they were going was throwing her into an internal panic. Every gentle sway of the lift got a quiet whine of fear out of her, and it felt like it was taking forever to reach their destination.

Eventually though, the lift stopped, and Maki opened her eyes. They had actually reached the top of the slope, and she let out a sigh of relief. Honoka pulled the bar up, and the two of them stepped off onto the snow. There was a sign stuck in the snow, and Maki went over to check it out. It had a black diamond on it, but there was nothing else to explain what the symbol meant.

"Hey Honoka, what does this sign mean?"

"It's a rating system for each slope. A black diamond means it's a lot of fun!"

"Uh huh..." Honoka's definition of fun was probably a different definition than her own. She went over towards the edge and made the mistake of looking down the slope. It was... Well, it was a long way down, to say the least. She had to pull away lest she faint and fall all the way down.

She turned to look at Honoka, who didn't seem scared at all. In fact, she seemed really excited about the death drop. Honoka really was brave. "Incredible..." Maki whispered to herself, her quiet words whisked away by the wind. Apparently she wanted Honoka so badly that she was willing to face certain death. This sounded all-too familiar...

Well, it was time to face that certain death now. Maki walked over to the edge, refusing to look down. Now that she thought about it, being dead would not help her be with Honoka. Most girls weren't into dead people. This was the kind of thing that was important to think about before heading up Death Mountain.

"Are you ready for adventure, Maki-chan?" Nope. This was a terrible, horrible mistake. Maybe it wasn't too late though. She just had to tell Honoka that she didn't think this through, and she wasn't ready for a slope so drastic. All she had to do was look in Honoka's eyes and say...

"Your eyes are really pretty."

"Huh?"

"Slope! Down the slope, ahaha! Ready, so ready! Never been readier in my life!" Death was the preferable option now. Trying to pretend nothing had happened by laughing very conspicuously, Maki got her feet into the harnesses of the snowboard and practically threw herself down the dangerous slope. Death before dishonor and all that.

Maki screamed like the mature woman she was as she careened down the slope, covering her eyes as by some miracle of the Gods she didn't immediately fall over and break her neck. Then she remembered that she had definitely seen trees on the slope, so not looking where she was going might just break more than her neck. So she uncovered her eyes and started to scream again.

"Isn't this great?" Honoka had caught up with her, 'boarding down the slope with ease. "Don't you just love the rush?"

"Aaaaaah!" Maki responded with much elegance. She hadn't been taught how to speak and fly down a huge snowy mountain during that first lesson. Maybe she should've stayed with Rin and Umi. Yes, she definitely should've done that. Stupid jealousy making her do incredibly stupid things.

As they continued to head down the slope, it felt like the trees that were fencing them in were drawing closer. It was probably her imagination, but it freaked her out all the same. How far were they from the end? She wanted to ask Honoka, but she had a feeling that her words would just end up being unintelligible screaming again.

In the middle of the slope was a skinnier tree. Why they left a tree in the middle of the path, Maki hadn't the foggiest idea. Maybe it was to kill off poser snowboarders like her. "Right or left, Maki-chan?" Honoka was trying to direct her, but they were coming upon it too fast. She wasn't ready to make this kind of decision yet.

"Uh, uh?! Reft! No, light!" They sure were heading for that tree awfully quick. Unable to choose a direction in time, Maki jumped into the air, hoping to somehow get in between the branches and land like some cool action hero. Instead, she slammed right into a low-hanging branch, the wind getting knocked right out of her as it connected with her stomach.

For a moment, Maki hung on the branch like a limp noodle, her eyes half-lidded as she stared at the snow in a daze. Then she began to slide off, falling onto her back into the snow. She pulled her helmet off and dropped it next to her. "Did someone... get the license plate of that car?"

"Maki-chan!" Honoka had skidded to a stop and removed her snowboard, stomping over to where Maki had gotten broadsided by nature. "Are you okay?" She extended her hand so that Maki could grab it and get back on her feet. As soon as she rose up though, she felt sick. Weakly pushing Honoka aside, she put a hand onto the tree and vomited into the snow.

It felt like her back was being snapped in half, and the pain drove her down to her knees. Whatever meal she last had, it certainly wasn't in her stomach anymore. The meal before that probably wasn't either. In her mind, in the middle of throwing up her insides, she remembered that Honoka had asked if she was okay. Well, she certainly wasn't, but this was probably the best time to pretend she was and try to salvage something out of a terrible morning. Could she blame her pain for her terrible thought process?

Rather than saying the truth - which would've been something along the lines of "I think I'm dying" - she gave Honoka a thumbs up and mumbled "Never better" before retching again. She didn't know how Honoka reacted to that until she finally pulled herself back up and turned to find her crush smiling brightly at her.

"You're amazing, Maki-chan!"

"I... I am?"

"That was a wicked wipeout, but you handled it really well." 'Really well' must've been a relative term. "I've never seen anyone hit a tree like that before. It was cool!" Maki wasn't sure how cool it really was, but the best thing for her to do was to smile and nod... or at least just nod. The smiling would probably be forced.

Honoka stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Maki, pulling her into a gentle hug. That caught Maki completely off guard, who froze in Honoka's arms, eyes wide. What had she done to deserve such close contact with her crush? It wasn't time for questions. She just had to not say something to ruin the moment, which would be easy, considering that her vocal chords had apparently frozen over too.

"Maybe we'll try an easier slope, though. Ahaha, sorry for heading up here so quickly."

"N-No problem." At this point, any regret Maki had was pushed into the back of her mind. Getting any praise from Honoka had a funny way of doing that.

"Think you can get down the rest of this slope?" She wasn't sure if that was supposed to sound like a challenge or a sincere question of her abilities. The latter would make sense, honestly. Regardless, the sensible answer would be that she clearly couldn't, but at this point, there was no way in hell she actually believed she would give an answer that wouldn't cause her bodily harm.

"O-Of course." All she had to do was get down the rest of this treacherous slope, and she'd be able to go down easier slopes. Though she had failed to even get down the easiest one... At least she'd be with Honoka. That was good enough. Surely she could finish this slope off on a high note!

She fell five times the rest of the way, sustaining what may have been a fractured wrist, though it was so cold she could barely feel it anyway.

* * *

That night, Honoka and Maki entered the ski lodge, with Rin and Umi trailing after them. Even when they'd switched to the easier slopes, Maki still failed spectacularly, though by the end of the day she was able to go down an entire slope without falling on her face. That had to count as improvement.

Her wrist was aching something fierce, and the rest of her body didn't feel much better. Despite that and the constant cold, her insides felt warm due to all the time she spent with Honoka. The extreme amount of craziness she went through now had to be measured in how much Honoka she got to experience. This one rated pretty damn high.

"I think you were really improving at the end there!" Honoka smiled and put a hand on Maki's shoulder, keeping the two of them close to each other. "Next time, I bet you could successfully go down two slopes in a row!"

"Ahah, yeah... N-Next time." She swore that she could feel Umi's 'I told you so' gaze on her back. That had to ignored, though. Now was the perfect opportunity to ask Honoka a very important question. How was this the perfect opportunity? The cold had numbed her to her normal levels of extreme embarrassment. There would be no other time to ask Honoka to go out with her.

"H-Hey, Honoka?" She was still nervous, but this time she was going to push past it and succeed, or die of embarrassment. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!"

"I... I wanted to... to... t-to ask you out!" That was pretty loud. She really hoped that neither Rin or Umi had heard that, though considering Umi was aware of her crush, that probably didn't matter. Either way, she didn't want to look back and check their faces. All she was concentrating on now was Honoka and keeping a blush from taking over her face completely.

A bit of surprise registered on Honoka's face, but it quickly disappeared in a big grin. "I was wondering when you were going to ask!"

"You... Wait, what?! You... You were _waiting_ for me to ask?"

"Oh yeah! I mean, I knew you had a crush on me." Honoka giggled at Maki's dumbstruck expression. "I just didn't know if you wanted to date or something."

"H-How long have you known?" There was no way she could've been so obvious, right? ... Right? Who was she even asking?

"Since you ran out of my parents' sweets shop." That was the first time they had met! Oh jeez, why hadn't Eli or Umi told her she'd been so obvious about it? What kind of roommates were they anyway?

"That... I... thought I was more discreet than that," she mumbled in embarrassment, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. This wasn't the time to lose her cool, though. Honoka hadn't laughed specifically at her request yet, so maybe there was still a chance. "B-But I still want to ask you out, though! I... think you're really amazing, a-and brave, so-"

Her rambling was interrupted by a gentle hug from Honoka. "Haha, you don't have to flatter me to get me to say yes. All you have to do is ask." Oh, it was _that_ easy?

"O-Oh, well then... Honoka, will you go out with me?"

"Hmm, I dunno..." She laughed again when Maki's face fell into a look of disbelief. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Of course I'd love to go out with you." That was an emotional rollercoaster, or maybe an emotional ski slope, but it led to a happy conclusion after all. Maki couldn't help but smile as she finally reciprocated Honoka's hug.

"What an exciting day!" Honoka exclaimed as she took Maki's non-injured hand and led her towards their room. "Now I know the best way to cap off a great day like this."

"How's that?" Honoka stopped and turned around, leaning in until they were face to face. Their sheer proximity made Maki's breath hitch.

"Well, since we're sharing the same room, and the same bed... and we've got some adrenaline going on." Honoka winked at Maki, squeezing her hand. "Maybe we could go and celebrate the fact that we're going out, hmm?" An incredible blush spread across Maki's face, and she couldn't really pretend that it was the cold causing it. She knew exactly what Honoka was talking about. Okay, so she was an amateur when it came to dating, but she wasn't ignorant of what other people did with each other... to each other.

There was only one answer to give in this situation, though. She may be dumb sometimes, but she wasn't a dweeb. "A-Absolutely. Yes. Celebrate good times, come on." Honoka laughed and once again led them to their room, with Maki following in a trance.

When the door was opened, Honoka grabbed Maki by her jacket collar and pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind them. This left Rin and Umi just staring at where they had just been. The conversation hadn't exactly been quiet. At least, not as quiet as they may have thought.

"That... was more than I needed to know." Umi groaned and covered her face, a blush spreading across her own cheeks.

"Woo Honoka-chan!" Rin shouted and pumped her fist in the air, drawing the attention of a few loungers. "You know, Umi-chan, I bet we can be louder than they'll be-"

"A-Absolutely not!"


	4. Flying High

Things had been going great on the dating front. Ever since Maki had finally gathered the courage to ask Honoka out - which was followed by them 'celebrating' their relationship - she'd been happier than at any other point in her life. It hadn't even taken that long to become comfortable showing affection to her new girlfriend, though she still hadn't become fond of being all lovey-dovey in public. Nor did she want to be all intimate around her roommates. Whenever they shared a kiss, even one of the 'on the cheek' variety, Umi would stare pointedly at her feet, which made Maki feel like she was doing something a lot more scandalous than she actually was. As for Eli, she would wolf whistle whenever the two of them were within arm's reach. Why did she have to suffer in this way?

Of course, no relationship was without bumps. In her case, there wasn't any trouble between the two of them. Rather, they were actual bumps, and bruises. Being so head over heels, Maki felt compelled to agree to every crazy idea Honoka brought up, which meant she usually came home in pretty bad shape. Still, when she would lay in bed at night, she'd smile thinking about being together with her next time.

At the very least, her latest adventure didn't involve anything that would inflict harm upon her. Honoka, on the other hand... Well, she couldn't imagine there was any chance this idea was going to end well. Yet there she was, watching with incredible trepidation as Honoka attached a rope to the back of her car.

"You really just thought of this, huh?" Maki bit her lip nervously, only slightly assuaged by Honoka's bright smile.

"Yup! Don't worry, baby: I won't damage your car!" She wasn't nearly as concerned about the car as she was about Honoka. What if something bad happened and she got hurt? Actually, she might as well scratch out the 'if', since there was a ridiculously-high chance something bad _was_ going to happen.

Rather than bring up that salient point, however, she just nodded and fiddled nervously with her keys. She was definitely sure that roller skating behind a moving car was a terrible, horrible idea, and yet it was exactly the kind of thing that Honoka would decide to do without any hesitation.

Making her way to the driver's side, Maki opened the door and sat down, looking out the back window as if hoping that Honoka would change her mind about the whole thing. If something happened to her, Maki would feel responsible for not trying to talk her out of it. There was no such second-guessing incoming, as Honoka instead shot her a thumbs up.

With a sigh, she knew that the only way out of this was to put her foot down and tell Honoka just what a silly, stupid idea this was. She just couldn't say no to those puppy-dog eyes, though. As Eli would probably say, she was thoroughly whipped. So, resigned to her own failures, she put the key in the ignition and turned it, listening to the car come to life with a smooth purr. Classical music drifted out of the speakers, not exactly an appropriate soundtrack to what they were going to be doing.

For once, she actually changed the music playing in her car. Awhile back, Eli had given her a CD of neo-classical music, which she almost never listened to and usually forgot was there. Now though, it finally seemed to be appropriate. The unfamiliar sounds played softly as she turned down the volume to make sure she didn't miss anything Honoka might scream from the back. With everything ready, she rolled down the window to make sure that everything was fine back there.

"Are you ready back there?" She leaned on the door and looked back, wishing that Honoka would wear any form of protection. A helmet was preferable. Did she want to die? The one time she had tried to impress on Honoka that wearing a helmet was safe and practical, Rin had butted in by claiming Honoka didn't need one because her skull was already so thick. It didn't really help Honoka's case when it took her nearly two minutes to understand that Rin was ribbing her.

"Hell yeah! Smash that m-f'in' gas pedal, baby!" Maki groaned and turned back around, keeping her eyes fixed on the road as her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. They'd driven to a place where not many people were, so there would be ample room for Maki to drive while simultaneously not accidentally slamming Honoka into an approaching truck. Not that this 'safety' precaution made Maki feel any better.

Slowly she pressed down on the gas pedal, not wanting to start too fast and throw Honoka off balance. The car moved forward gently, and she looked back to make sure her girlfriend was okay. "Faster, Maki-chan!" Yup: she was okay.

Against her better judgement, she pressed down on the gas pedal, going faster down the empty road. Behind her, Honoka was letting out shouts of unrestrained joy, getting bolder by letting go with one hand. That was finally the thing that caused Maki's worry to tip over the edge. "H-Honoka! Be careful!"

"I am being carefulll-woah!" That didn't sound like a good woah. The combination of the car's increased speed and Honoka's one-handed shenanigans caused her to become off-balanced. Though she stayed on her feet, she accidentally let go of the rope and easily lagged behind the car. Her direction changed course due to a sudden flailing of her arms, and she ended up skating right off the road and tumbled head over heels into an awaiting ditch.

"HONOKA!" Maki screamed in terror, slamming on the brakes and throwing the car into park before desperately trying to wrestle off her seatbelt. After getting through her initial panic, she got unbuckled, flung open the door, and resumed panicking as she ran towards the ditch. "Honoka?!"

"Ahaha, I'm okay! I'm okay, Maki-chan!" Regardless of that relieving sign, Maki stumbled down the ditch after Honoka, reaching her and helping her back on to her feet. Besides a few scrapes and dirt stains here and there, she didn't look much worse for the wear. "Wow, that was awesome!"

"Wh-What? You fell in a ditch!" Maki couldn't believe that Honoka could still be laughing after that scare. Wait... Okay, maybe she could, but it was terrifying to her, even if it wasn't to Honoka. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, as if she'd been the one riding behind the car. "What if you'd cracked your skull open?!"

"Then you'd stitch me back up, right?" Honoka's smile was way too sincere for something so silly.

"H-Honoka, I'm not trained to do that yet." Somehow Honoka always had a way of making the scariest situations seem simple. Chuckling softly, she leaned up and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Wait until next year to bust your head open, alright?"

"Roger roger!" They both were laughing now as Honoka took Maki's hands in her own. "Hey, since the sun's going down and all, would you like to watch the stars together?"

"R-Really?" Now that was surprising. Never in her wildest dreams would Maki have thought that Honoka would want to do something like that. Considering all the exciting, extreme activities that she did, stargazing seemed so tame and boring. Still, she definitely wasn't going to say no. Stargazing was a favorite activity of hers. "I'd love to."

"Great!" With that, the two of them went back to the car, though they made sure to remove the rope first. It went into the trunk, along with Honoka's roller skates, as the two of them got into their respective seats and Maki drove them around until the sun fully went down. The sky darkened and twinkled with the first signs of stars as Maki drove off the road and parked the car in the grass.

"How'd you even know I was interested in this?" She'd finally gotten Honoka to admit that she knew Maki was into stargazing, but it was still a mystery as to how she'd learned it. Maki had never told her, since she'd been worried that Honoka would find it too boring.

"Eli told me." Well that would explain it. "I'm not too experienced with the whole... you know, the whole relationship thing, so I asked Eli if she could tell me some stuff about you. I wanted to surprise you." She gave Maki a sheepish smile, which didn't help with the blush that had already started to redden her cheeks. It wasn't much of a surprise anymore, but it was oddly endearing to know that Honoka was in sort of the same boat as she was when it came to relationships. Plus, the fact that she wanted to surprise Maki with something that she was interested in was romantic. At least to her it was.

"Well, I think it's sweet." She smiled back, standing outside of her car. The best way to view the stars would be to lay on the roof of her car, which she was amenable to... as long as Honoka took off her shoes. When they both left their shoes under their seats, they climbed up onto the car and laid down on the roof, being careful to avoid leaving any dents or marks. Just because Maki cared more about Honoka than her car didn't mean she wanted any damage being done to it.

"Honestly, I don't really have any experience either." Since there was no one around, she felt comfortable pressing closer to Honoka and enjoying the warmth their shared contact gave her. "The only dates I ever went on were with my teddy bear when I was twelve." Though Honoka tried to be polite, she still had to cover her mouth to not laugh out loud. "H-Hey, don't laugh!"

"N-No no, it's cute, really!" She still laughed though, turning onto her side to face Maki with a cheeky grin. "Did Mr. Bearington steal my girl's first kiss?"

"N-No! Don't be silly." Maki huffed, staring up at the stars with a deepening blush. "Baron Rockefeller was a gentleman." If anything, Honoka laughed harder at that. Could she really blame her, though? It was pretty embarrassing. "Besides, you're better than any stuffed bear."

"Ooh, that was smooth." Honoka's grin broadened as she moved on top of Maki, looking down at her with those big, beautiful blue eyes.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Like she didn't know what Honoka was doing.

"I'm stargazing, baby." Maki groaned and flicked her forehead. "Ow!"

" _That_ was corny as hell." It made her smile though. Gently she placed her hands on Honoka's cheeks, bringing her head down. "I won't hold it against you, though." She initiated the kiss, slow and tender as they locked lips beneath the stars. Her fingers moved through Honoka's hair, her heart racing all over again as they deepened the kiss. The warmth of Honoka's body against her own enveloped her in a bubble that only the two of them were allowed to share. It was magical.

They got really into their makeout session. _Really_ into it. Maki had completely forgotten the fact that they were in public until she felt Honoka's hand start to snake its way up her shirt. "H-Honoka, we're in public!" As much as she didn't want to stop, she broke off their kiss and chased off her girlfriend's frisky hand.

"I'm sorry, Maki-chan." Maki frowned, hating to see Honoka looking so chastised. She hadn't meant to push her away so suddenly.

"N-No, hey, it's okay." To try and assure her of that, Maki pulled her back down and kissed her again, smiling against her lips. "I-It's just, you know... Maybe we should go do that at my place." Immediately Honoka perked up, any trace of worry disappearing from her face. She nodded hard and moved so that Maki could get up, and then the two of them got back down onto the ground below. Her car had thankfully taken no damage from their risky frisky behavior.

"Do you really want to go to your place, Maki-chan? You usually don't want to do anything while your roommates are there."

"I know, but right now I really feel like rubbing it in Eli's face that I'm getting laid and she isn't."

"That's the spirit, Maki-chan!"

* * *

 

It was after midnight when the two of them finally laid back on Maki's bed, exhausted and covered in sweat. Whether it was the romantic stargazing gesture, or the steamy makeout session on top of her car, Maki wasn't sure, but they'd barely been able to keep their hands off of each other the moment they entered the dorm. As soon as they got into her room and locked the door, their clothes started coming off. Luckily the mood wasn't ruined when Maki tripped while trying to remove her jeans, kiss Honoka, and move towards the bed at the same time.

She felt bad for the dorms around them. Admittedly, she'd only wanted to be a bit loud so that Eli was sure to hear, but apparently her own eagerness made Honoka's sexual prowess ascend, so being a 'bit' loud became impossible. Screaming was a more accurate description of what she'd been doing. It was embarrassing, but what could she say? Honoka really brought the best out of her.

Panting heavily, she grinned to herself thinking about what Eli must've been thinking, knowing that she had to lay in bed alone while Maki got to get it on. As for Umi, she hadn't done anything wrong, and they'd probably have to avoid eye contact for a week before this was water under the bridge. It was totally worth it, though.

Despite the increased heat, she moved closer to Honoka and laid her head on her lover's chest, smiling as she listened to her heartbeat. The covers had long been kicked off the bed, but neither of them were interested in getting up to get them. They could turn on the air conditioning, but then they'd have to get up... and dressed.

"Wow baby, you were on fire tonight." Honoka laughed and kissed Maki on the cheek, wrapping her arms around the redhead's body. "I feel a little bad for your neighbors."

"Eh, they'll live." Maki shrugged nonchalantly, though in truth she never wanted to see her neighbors ever again, for fear that they'd bring up her sexual activities. Trying to not think about that, she was content to lay there in Honoka's arms and let herself drift off to sleep. It wouldn't be such a bad idea. After all, it _was_ after midnight, so it was pretty late.

"Oh, Maki-chan! I just remembered something!" Or not. She quickly lifted her head and looked at Honoka, waiting for her to continue. "So next weekend, I wanted to try something super awesome. Rin-chan's down for it, and I wanted to see if you were up for it too." Oh boy, Rin. Maki's stomach dropped at the mere mention of her unaware rival. Only she could be laying in bed with her naked girlfriend and still feel raging jealously as soon as one name got brought up.

She didn't know what this 'super awesome' thing Honoka had planned was, but if Rin was going to be there, then she'd have to be there too. Sure, last time her jealousy had been a figment of her imagination and had made her ski down a ridiculously-dangerous slope, but this couldn't possibly be worse than that. No one was going to take Honoka from her.

"I'm down for that." She tried to sound as normal as possible, like there was no ulterior motive for her acceptance in going. That didn't mean she was only going to put a wall between the two friends. She loved being wherever Honoka was, and that was always the main reason she'd go anywhere. It was just her stupid jealousy making its presence known again.

"Awesome! Wait..." Honoka seemed confused about something. "You don't even know what my super awesome plan is."

"I'm sure it'll be fun." Shrugging, Maki tried to snuggle in closer to Honoka, hoping that she'd end up forgetting all about this amazing plan. It was probably just another dangerous activity, like car surfing or something.

"Oh, it will be!" Smiling broadly, Honoka hugged Maki as close as she could and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm so happy you're gonna come with us, Maki-chan. I know the snowboarding didn't go so well, but skydiving's gonna be even better!" _'Wait, what?'_ Maki's eyes widened at Honoka's words, her whole body freezing despite the heat radiating from the two of them. Skydiving? Actual, jumping out of a plane with only a backpack and a desperate prayer?

_'Oh didgeridang.'_


	5. Like a Stone

"You know, I knew this would happen." Umi shook her head as she watched Maki pace around the living room, looking abnormally pale. "When you aren't upfront with the truth, these kinds of things are going to happen."

"I know, I know! Shut up!" Eventually Maki's pacing stopped as she sunk down to her knees, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I think I'm going to throw up..." Immediately Umi came over to her, going down to gently rub Maki's back.

"Breathe, Maki, breathe. Just take slow, deep breaths. You're not going to throw up." Her words worked in calming Maki down slightly, though she still looked out of shape emotionally. "I know you said you would go skydiving with Honoka, but I'm sure she would understand if you backed out."

"Gods, I can't do that!" Maki protested, pressing her palms against the floor. "Our relationship has gotten so much closer, I... I can't do anything to jeopardize that." She really was obstinate. Umi could only sigh at how much risk Maki was willing to take just to be with Honoka.

"Maki, you're scared of heights. You can't go freakin' skydiving." This time it was Eli who chimed in, which was a relief to Umi. She had a feeling that Eli was still sore over Maki and Honoka's 'fun time', but at least she was being reasonable. "People die doing that all the time." That was not helpful.

Maki's eyes widened as she jumped back onto her feet, nearly knocking over Umi as she resumed her pacing. "Oh Gods, I'm gonna die!" Her eyes glanced around the room frantically as she hugged herself tightly. "I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die!" Before Umi could console her again, Maki ran out of the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. It didn't take long before Umi was cringing at the somewhat-muffled sound of retching.

"Eli, you are absolutely no help!" Umi huffed, wanting so badly to slap Eli at that point. "Why'd you tell her that?"

"What? You want her to die or something?" Eli shot back, crossing her arms. "We both agree this is a stupid idea. Why not discourage her from doing it?"

"You didn't have to be so blunt about it, though." Sighing, Umi pulled out her phone. "I'm going to see how often terrible things happen while skydiving. Maybe it's not so bad." While she was going to do her best to stop Maki from doing this, if she was going to remain stubborn about doing everything Honoka liked, Umi could at least find something comforting to say statistics-wise.

At least the statistics looked good. There weren't _that_ many accidents, and most of them were due to human error. If she knew Maki, she'd be repeating every single instruction multiple times to make sure she did everything right. That was somewhat comforting. With that information in hand, she walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Maki?"

The only response she got was further retching. "Maki, I promise you you don't have to do this. If Honoka cares for you like you care for her, then she'll understand that you can't do this."

"I know, I just... I can't." Her reply sounded feeble, made worse by the obvious discomfort she was in. "I can't lose Honoka to Rin."

"Maki..." Umi sighed, hearing hints of jealously creeping into Maki's tone. "Rin is Honoka's friend. She wouldn't take Honoka from you."

"Why not? She's so much better-suited for Honoka than I am. They're... They're perfect for each other."

"... Look, Maki, if you're really going through with this, then I can at least tell you that there aren't a lot of casualties when it comes to skydiving. Most problems stem from human error, so as long as you pay attention, you should be fine."

"Th-Thanks, Umi."

"Of course." Umi stood up and walked back to her room, a guilty feeling forming in the pit of her stomach when she heard soft crying coming from the bathroom. She wished that she could do more for Maki, but she didn't know what.

* * *

That night, Maki laid in bed and stared up at the ceiling, still feeling sick to her stomach. She had cried herself out hours ago, but now fear had completely taken her over. Why couldn't she be as fearless and carefree as Honoka was?

She rolled over onto her side and grabbed her phone, shielding her eyes from its harsh light until she could successfully lessen the brightness. Opening up her notes, her fingers hovered over the internal keyboard as she debated whether or not to write her last will and testimony. Was there anything she had that was worth enough to bequeath onto someone? Probably not. Sighing, she put her phone back and resumed staring at the ceiling.

Despite Umi's assurance, she was positive that this would be the event that ended her life. At least she could go out knowing that she'd done everything she could to keep Honoka. Though when she died, she wouldn't be there, obviously... and then Honoka could just get with Rin anyway... Oh Gods, what was she doing?

Maki grabbed the pillow from beneath her head and covered her face with it, screaming into the softness. Why had she agreed to this? Why couldn't she say no to that beautiful bread-eating girl? She could almost hear Eli mimicking the sound of a whip. Why was she like this?

Once again she grabbed her phone, this time to do further reading on skydiving. Since she was way too deep to ever believe she'd back away from such a stupid idea, she would just have to do research until she was completely confident that she could do it. Eventually, however, she ended up watching videos about failed skydives and the awful events and deaths that had happened over the last few decades. The fear was never-ending.

When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed that she was falling out of a plane, down down down, screaming silently as Rin's laughter rang in her ears. She woke up crying before the sun had even risen, and her fear kept her from going back to sleep. "I'm going to die..."

* * *

On the drive there, Maki tried her best not to show how nervous she was, which was hard due to all the shaking she was doing. Luckily she didn't feel like throwing up anymore. Maybe that was because she had thrown up the unfilled contents of her stomach that morning. Though she'd ended up deciding not to write her will, she did do something she normally didn't do: tell her parents that she loved them. She also gave Umi a hug before leaving, since she'd been awake to see Maki off.

Even with Honoka there, Maki didn't feel comfortable. Her entire mind was filled with the specter of death, ruining any chance she had of enjoying what could very well be her last moments on Earth with her girlfriend. There was no denying it: she was downright terrified.

When they got inside the building, she was surprised to find that they were almost immediately sent to gear up after a minimal tutorial. She was not prepared for this, not in the slightest. "H-Honoka, don't we need more instructions?"

"Nuh uh. We're going with instructors, Maki-chan. They'll be doing all the work for us. We just get to enjoy the ride!" Instructors? Maki remembered reading about tandem jumping, but for some reason she'd just assumed they'd be jumping solo. If they didn't actually have to do anything, maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

Her cautious confidence continued as they boarded the plane, even allowing her to remember to get really close to Honoka in order to 'protect' her from Rin. This lasted until the plane started to take off, and her confidence plummeted the higher they got into the air. Though this wasn't the first time she'd been on a plane before, that time she'd had the ability to knock herself out with pills. Those weren't available to her now. Her grip on Honoka's arm tightened significantly.

"Ow, baby, that hurts."

"S-Sorry." Maki quickly removed her hands, trying to ignore the concerned look on Honoka's face. She couldn't back down now. Besides, if the instructor was going to do all the work in the tandem jump, then she didn't have anything to worry about. Unless something went wrong that the instructor couldn't control, and the parachutes failed, and they went crashing down to the unforgiving ground below. Oh Gods, she was going to die.

She barely registered the pilot telling them that they had reached the proper altitude, and that it was time to prepare to jump. It wasn't until Honoka stood up next to her that she realized something was going on, and she got up to join them. When she realized what was happening, her stomach dropped.

Standing next to Honoka, she watched with trepidation as Rin was the first one to go. She got strapped up with the instructor, then waved to the two of them before jumping out of the plane. Honoka looked a lot more excited about what was about to happen than Maki did about... well, anything.

In her mind, she tried to force herself to think of everything positive, while shunning all the negative. Since she was going to be jumping with someone else, she wouldn't have to do any work. They obviously knew what they were doing, so the risks were minimal in nature. Of course, she was still scared of heights, and would probably embarrass herself with all her screaming, but it wasn't like Honoka hadn't heard her scream before. There was also the whole 'don't let Rin look better than you' deal to consider.

Despite all that positive thinking, her brain kept coming back to her fear of heights. Being in a plane terrified her, and this was hitting all the right notes to drive her insane. The only reason that she hadn't dropped down and curled up in the fetal position was because Honoka was there, and she didn't want to embarrass herself. However, as the time for her to jump was drawing closer, her rational grip was slipping away.

"Maki-chan?" She turned to find Honoka was still looking at her with concern in her eyes. There was no way she wanted Honoka to think there was something wrong, so she forced a smile and started to walk towards the front of the plane. "What are you doing?"

"I-I just want to see the... th-the view." She certainly did not want to see the view, but she was holding onto the thinnest of hopes that looking down with everything on the line would magically make her feel more reassured, and she could convince herself that she could do this. Slowly she placed a hand on the side of the plane and inched closer to the edge, peering down until she could see the sky beneath them. The ground looked so much smaller than she imagined. She felt faint.

Her stomach felt like it was doing backflips as her knees became weak, and she probably would've fallen down - and out of the plane - if someone hadn't grabbed her and pulled her back. When she looked up, she realized it was Honoka who had grabbed her.

"Maki-chan! What happened?" The concern that had been in Honoka's eyes had graduated into full-on worry.

"I... I can't do this." She hadn't meant to say it: it just slipped out.

"You can't do this? Do what?"

"Th-The jump. I... I-I can't do it." She began trembling, her breathing quickening as she let her fear overtake her. "I-I can't do this, I can't, I can't! I-I'm gonna die!"

"Maki-chan?!" Honoka put her hands on Maki's shoulders and held her tightly. "Baby, you're not gonna die! What's wrong? What happened?"

"I... I..." The further away from her near-fainting experience she got time-wise, the calmer Maki's breathing became. It eventually reached a point where she could actually speak without breaking out in hysterics. "I, uh... I-I'm afraid of heights." Her voice came out as a whisper, which Honoka had to strain to hear.

"You're scared of heights?" It didn't seem like Honoka understood. "But then why would you come up here?"

"B-Because..." Maki sighed and took a deep breath. There wasn't really any way she could hide it now. She was going to have to tell the truth. Internally, she cringed at the reality that her relationship could end right then and there. "Because I love you, Honoka. I would do anything to make you happy. Even..." She gestured towards the open door of the plane. "Even something that terrifies me."

Honoka looked guilty the more Maki spoke. "Maki-chan, I... I had no idea. I'm so sorry-"

"Wait, there's... there's more." This was going to be the hardest part to admit. "I... I didn't want you to come here alone with Rin."

"Huh? But Rin-chan and I are best friends. She really wanted to come!" Honoka gave Maki a grin, having not understood what Maki was getting at. "I didn't think you'd want to have some 'alone time' all the way up here."

"Th-That's not what I meant!" At least she wasn't thinking about being scared, though she hadn't planned on feeling embarrassed in this way. "I... I was jealous of her, alright?"

"Jealous?" It still didn't seem like Honoka understood. "Of Rin-chan? Why would you be jealous?"

"Because she's better for you than I am!" Oh Gods, why did she say that? "She's... really into all of this extreme sports stuff, and she's good at it too. I'm terrible at all of this, and you know I am. I'm scared of heights, I... I can't even stand on a skateboard without wiping out. You two have been friends for so long, and you share so many of the same interests. I know I can't compete with that, and... and I was so scared that if I didn't at least try to do all of these things you liked, you'd realize that she's so much better than I am and... a-and leave me."

She had to take a breath after spilling out everything that she really, really shouldn't have been saying. If she had just been able to not lose her cool, she would've been fine, but it was too late now. She'd systematically destroyed everything, and now she was going to look up and be forced to watch as Honoka jumped out of her life.... from a plane. When she looked up, however, she was shocked to see tears in Honoka's eyes.

"H-Honoka?! Why are you crying? I was supposed to be the one crying!"

"I-I'm so sorry!" Honoka pulled Maki into a tight hug, catching her off guard. "I should've noticed that you were feeling uncomfortable! I didn't mean to take you on all these crazy adventures and scare you so much. I'm a terrible girlfriend!"

"Wh-What? No! No, you're a great girlfriend! An amazing one! That's why I did all of this... Because I didn't want to lose you." All that effort, all to watch it blow up in her face. Pathetic. One of their guides came over and tapped on Honoka's shoulder to get their attention.

"Excuse me, but are either of you going to be jumping?" Honoka and Maki looked at each other. Maki could tell from the indecisiveness in Honoka's eyes that she wanted to stay there with her instead of doing the jump, but the last thing she wanted was to be a wet blanket. She shook her head and gently pushed Honoka forward.

"You should do it, Honoka. Don't let me hold you back, okay?" She tried to smile, but it looked more like someone had just stepped on her foot and she was trying not to show how much pain she was in. That didn't seem to soothe Honoka any, but she just nodded and moved towards the instructor.

"Will you... meet me down there? Not by jumping or anything, I mean. Just... When I land, will you still be there?" Maki could only nod wordlessly. Honoka gave her a small smile, then Maki watched as she got in tandem with the instructor and, with one final wave, disappeared from the plane.

Maki sighed deeply and laid down on her back, shaking her head sadly. This definitely was it. When she got down there, Honoka was going to break up with her. There was no way she could get into another relationship, especially not with anyone as wonderful as Honoka. She could only imagine the teasing she would get from Eli when this came out into the open. She felt absolutely wretched.

All the way back down to the ground she moped, feeling alone and empty. She didn't even want to leave the plane once it touched down, but she reluctantly got up and exited. From where she was, she could see a few people standing around an empty field. She knew that Honoka, Rin, and their instructors would be there, but there seemed to be more people. Sighing, she knew that she had to face the music, so she slowly trudged towards them.

As she got closer, she quickly realized that the extra people there were Eli and Umi. That just made her feel worse. She didn't want them there to witness her utter embarrassment. Since she wasn't there, they already would know that she hadn't done the jump. Every step she took towards them felt like she was walking to the electric chair. Might as well just get it over with.

She hadn't yet reached them when Rin noticed her and pointed towards her. Suddenly everyone was staring at her, making Maki feel self-conscious. Did they all have to look at her at once? Soon enough, she was standing in front of all of them, staring at her feet as she waited for her metaphorical death sentence.

A pair of hands landed on her shoulders and squeezed gently. She knew it would be Honoka, and when she looked up, her guess was correct. "Maki-chan, before you say anything, I want you to know that I am really sorry for not realizing what was going on. I don't want you to feel bad, and I also don't want you to do things you're uncomfortable with just to please me." She smiled at Maki's wide-eyed expression. "I love you for everything that you are, for your own interests, your smarts, your... your everything!" Laughing sheepishly, Honoka leaned in until their foreheads were touching. "I don't need you to do something that scares you just to be with me. I'll love you even if you just want to sit on the couch and study all day."

That wasn't at all what she expected to hear. She had expected the absolute worst, but this wasn't even bad. The entire walk there, she had been thinking about how she would deal with it - badly, assuredly - so to hear this short-circuited her brain. She didn't even know how to react to it, so she responded in the only way she could: by falling into Honoka's arms and crying.

Laughter rang in her ears as Honoka's arms wrapped tightly around her, but it wasn't a mocking laugh. It was a soft, pleasant laugh, and Maki let herself be held tightly in Honoka's embrace, crying against her shoulder. She wasn't going to lose Honoka after all. They were going to stay together, and she still loved her even after all of that. Her body was shaking, but she wasn't feeling miserable anymore. Relief was washing over her.

When her crying had finally subsided some, Honoka lifted her head up so that they could look in each other's eyes. "And as for Rin-chan, she's my best friend. She'd never put the moves on me, especially when I've got the best girlfriend in the world." Then she placed her hands on Maki's cheeks and pulled her in for a deep kiss, filled with every ounce of love she could muster.

Normally Maki would be incredibly embarrassed by the very open display of affection, but right then she couldn't care less. Honoka loved her, and still wanted to be with her. That was worth at least one public kiss. She wrapped her arms around Honoka's neck and held on tightly, returning the kiss that she never wanted to end. Forget the electric chair: she had been given a stay of execution.

When they finally broke away from the kiss, both of them had huge smiles on their faces. Rin clapped for them, her cheers embarrassing Maki, but not enough to take away from this wonderful moment.

"Aww, where's my celebratory skydive kiss?" Rin pouted, looking over towards Umi. "Umi-chaaan!"

"Wh-What?" Umi jerked up in surprised, staring at Rin. "Wh-Why would you think I'd kiss you out of the blue like that?" A blush grew on her cheeks as she fidgeted slightly. "E-Especially without even asking me out on a date or anything." Rin grinned broadly, crossing the short distance between them.

"Alriiight, Umi-chan. Ya wanna go out with me this weekend?"

"Wh-What, no location or anything?" Umi crossed her arms, though she was smiling slightly. "How do I know what I'm getting into?"

"Dinner, a movie, going to the animal shelter and looking at all the adorable cats." Rin ticked off the places one by one. "So whaddya say, Umi-chan? Will you go on a date with me?"

"Mm... Alright then. It's a date."

"Yayyy Umi-chan!" Rin clapped her hands in excitement, then jumped right into Umi's arms, sending both of them toppling to the ground below. "Nyaaa!"

"Aaaa! Owww, Rin, be carefu-" Her words were cut off by an eager kiss from Rin, and rather than try to keep up her admonishing tone, Umi just shrugged her shoulders and kissed her back.

"Okay, now where's _my_ prospective relationship?" Now it was Eli's turn to wonder why she wasn't getting kissed like everyone else.

"I'm sure someone with your beauty and confidence can find someone, right?" Maki grinned at Eli, who just stuck out her tongue in reply.

"Just you wait. It won't be long until I'm the one making you all feel awkward by making out in front of you." Eli could only sulk for so long before grinning and clapping Maki on the shoulder. "Glad you didn't die, roomie."

"Yeah, I am too." Maki laughed as well, leaning into Honoka as the three of them watched Umi and Rin wrestling tongues on the ground. "So, did your date start already, Umi?" Pulling away from the kiss, Umi waved her hand dismissively at Maki, a blush still on her face.

"No one said you had to look!" Then Rin captured her lips again, and Umi was distracted once more. Eli pretended to gag while Maki just smirked and pressed closer to Honoka, enjoying the warmth and security she felt in her girlfriend's arms. For once she felt completely sane and happy instead of being burdened by fear and jealously. It felt right.

Taking Honoka's hand in her own, she smiled at her partner, who shot her a smile right back. Everything they had gone through had been just like Honoka herself: insanely extreme. That was okay, though. After all, her own love was just as extreme.


End file.
